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- Two related investigations by New York State and City officials were opened by 2020 to determine whether the Trump Organization has committed financial fraud. One of these is a criminal case being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney (DA) and the other is a civil case being conducted by the New York State Attorney General (AG).The DA's case led to two of the organization's subsidiary companies being found guilty of 17 charges including tax fraud, while the AG has succeeded in imposing an independent monitor to prevent future fraud by the organization. By mid-2021, New York AG Letitia James had joined the DA's criminal probe, with the latter convening a grand jury. Prosecutors filed 10 charges against the organization, alleging that it had conducted a 15-year "scheme to defraud" the government, and 15 felony counts against longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg—who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 500 times in his testimony. In August 2022, a judge denied requests from the organization and Weisselberg to dismiss the criminal case, and the latter pleaded guilty. A trial was held from October to December. Evidence including the testimonies of Weisselberg and others indicate that he and other executives—as well as the two subsidiaries—participated in fraudulent schemes, including recording some employee bonuses as pay for contract work, with the defense asserting that the organization was unaware of impropriety and that Trump family members did not intend to participate in wrongdoing despite signing relevant checks. A number of illegal practices, some of which had reputedly been executed since the 1980s, were ceased around the time of Donald Trump's election as U.S. president. In 2020, Eric Trump pleaded the Fifth over 500 times in his testimony for the AG. In November 2021, The Washington Post reported that between 2011 and 2015 the organization presented several properties as being worth far more to potential lenders than to tax officials; in 2012, it cited the 40 Wall Street building as being worth over $500 million more to the former than to the latter. Lawyers for the Trumps unsuccessfully sought to have both the case and related subpoenas dismissed. Donald Trump reportedly pleaded the Fifth more than 400 times in his August 2022 deposition. In September, James filed a civil lawsuit against Trump, his three oldest children, and the organization for alleged fraud. Additionally, she referred the case to federal criminal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service. In November, the New York judge overseeing the lawsuit approved the AG's request for an independent monitor, and a trial was scheduled for late 2023. (en)
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